On Wednesday, four ships carrying some 100 troops set sail from Virginia to begin the construction of a temporary offshore pier for delivering food and other necessities to the people of Gaza. This newsletter has mentioned the serious concerns about this mission, especially the danger that American personnel will come under fire. One U.S. military expert, drawing on his own experience, described delivering humanitarian aid as a “nightmare.”
But the offshore pier is an idea that Israeli politicians and experts have been debating for several years, and some remain in favor of it. Among them is Yigal Carmon, who sees the project as “no less than a miracle” because it will undermine both Hamas and its protector, Qatar, while creating a bigger role for the U.S. and United Arab Emirates:
The port initiative will cut off the Hamas-Qatar control of the supplies that until now came through the Rafah crossing [on the Gaza-Egypt border], and from there was stolen by Hamas and later sold to the population for inflated prices. Any weakening of Qatar will make Hamas more cooperative in turning the hostages into a trading asset in negotiations, which is not the case right now, as their main goal is a ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
The port . . . will enable Israel to carry out the absolutely necessary military operation in Rafah . . . with minimal civilian casualties, since the population will move again to where there is a secure and constant flow of food thanks to the U.S. and the Emirates.
This ongoing supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza could become the beginning of the end to this terrible war if the administration will not heed the Qatari and Iranian attempts to derail it. The worst thing to happen would be if America involves Qatar in the port project. Qatar, being unable to stop the administration, will seek to sabotage the project from within.
Read more on MEMRI: https://www.memri.org/reports/port-hope-gaza-beginning-end-war